Carry and Use a Survival Kit

You can buy a survival kit, or you can make your own. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend or how many items you include in your survival kit. The two most important things to remember are that you must CARRY IT and know how to USE IT! A survival kit won’t help you if you leave it back in camp. And even an expensive survival kit won’t help you if you don’t know how to use the items in it.

A basic survival kit should include the following items:

Waterproof matches/lighter

Signal mirror

Pocket knife, wire saw

Flashlight/extra batteries

Plastic sheet/garbage bag

First-aid material(s)

Map/compass

Deck of cards

Cup/pot

Extra ammunition

Fire starter/candles

Whistle

Tube tent

Rope/string

Emergency blanket

Safety pins

Emergency food/water

Water purification tablets

Different people have different needs. Some survival kits will have many more items than those listed above. For example, you might want to carry extra clothing in your kit.

Think of your survival kit as an emergency kit. Make sure that you check the equipment in your survival kit each year before you need it in an emergency!